


Peculiars

by dragonplated



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Bar/Pub, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Anarchy, Angry Sex, Corruption, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Government Conspiracy, M/M, Multi, Oh right I need to tag based on the plot not just based on the sex, Older Man/Younger Man, Rebellion, Romance, That's my middle name, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:40:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28337853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonplated/pseuds/dragonplated
Summary: A band of misfit young adults with dwindling wills-to-live try their best to navigate the cloudy waters of Adulthood, Love, Overthrowing The Government, and other everyday problems, while trying not to get themselves killed.
Relationships: Original Female Character/Original Male Character, Original Male Character/Original Male Character





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted from Wattpad.

"You know damn well what I'm talking about,"

Calix stiffened at Sadie's words. Her gaze was just as paralyzing as the soundwaves she'd harnessed on the two guards not more than a minute ago and Calix had almost got slapped for pointing out that they looked like dead fish when they first spasmed from the shock.

But now they'd stopped in the middle of the dingy corridor, so just to make sure the dead fish had stayed dead, Calix stole a glance over her shoulder.

Indeed, the two limp bodies remained slumped at the foot of the iron bars. But Calix could tell the shocks hadn't been fatal. They hadn't been strong enough.

Calix knew that, because the bodies were still spasming, but it was weird because the movement was ever so imperceptible that Calix himself wondered how he could see it.

That was probably the least of his concerns, though.

Calix met Sadie's steely eyes with a glare.

"Look- I have no idea what you're talking about, okay?" 

The tube lights that flickered so much they were more off than on were the only source of illumination, but Calix could somehow see the glint of iridescent flecks of light as they reflected off surfaces very clearly down the rest of the corridor in front of them.

 _'Peculiars'_. What the hell had that term even meant?

Sadie didn't look convinced, but if she wanted to say something, she had apparently thought better of it. Lips pursed, she shoved the small circuit board she'd been toying with back into her torn vest pocket. She'd been fiddling with her weird tech gizmos for the entire hour Calix had known her, and he resisted the urge to ask if she always had this much nervous energy.

Sadie was taller and definitely stronger than Calix. There would always be the overhanging threat of a sucker-punch to his beautiful jaw.

Calix opened his mouth to give some sort of backing, support the fact that he really did have no idea what the fuck 'Peculiars' were, but his words died in his throat when he felt an eerie, tingly feeling crawl up his spine. Not like shivers, or goosebumps, but like a hundred thousand fucking spiders, their stupid legs tap-tapping away along his back.

He shuddered.

It was an odd, unfamiliar feeling.

It all happened almost before he could even register the sensation. 

Head reeling from vertigo, he blinked his eyes open, but Sadie was... standing on the wall?

Oh, fuck, no.

Calix had _pounced_ , and his- his _claws_ wereanchored into the concrete wall. Calix couldn't help his first thought being about his favourite black sneakers that would now have five gaping holes busted right through each of their canvases.

But then he smelled the people.

He didn't know how - fuck, there was an exponentially increasing list of things he really didn't know - but he could tell that there were three distinct human scents, three different people, and they would be entering the isolated prison ward pretty damn soon.

Eyes latched on to the girl who looked mostly confused, the ghost of a calculative stare painted across her eyes, Calix twisted his mouth into a roguish grin that she soon mirrored when she heard the words that followed.

"Think you can summon more soundwaves?"


	2. Chapter 2

Calix was less than pleased to say that in the two years since their great escapade, the only thing that seemed to have grown was the _gap_ in their heights. And he was also less than pleased to say that Sadie was still far stronger than he could ever be.

They'd spent a few months on the run, travelling from Kenigh to Arlough, solely because Sadie had said security wasn't as tight there. The entirety of the South Zone was loose on security in general, but Arlough was where the lowlifes abounded.

That was the cold realisation dunked on him when Sadie brought them to sign up for jobs at a shoddy underground pub.

"Who cares? It's good pay," She'd said.

To which Calix, in hindsight, agreed, because first and foremost, they needed money for an apartment. Secondly, the lawlessness that abounded in Arlough made it that much easier for Peculiars - yes, he finally knew what the goddamn term meant - such as themselves to conceal themselves.

Calix was certain he was a Peculiar, just unsure of which segregation. 

From what Sadie knew, there were two classes of Peculiars, although the majority of them had been eradicated by Icorion. Emitter types, like Sadie's soundwaves and basic affinity for anything sound related -like her keen hearing, which was especially a burden when Calix brought eye-candies home after a night shift at the bar; their walls weren't soundproof- and Activator types, which were rare and more powerful than emitters, which they assumed Calix was.

More power entailed a government hot on your heels. That is, if they discovered your identity, of course.

And maybe that was why Sadie was so protective of him.

In his time spent with Sadie, Calix had begun to view her as a big sister, though more often than not, she resembled an annoying mother, because of how many times she'd had to save his sorry ass. When Calix spent a whole hour one night wailing in Sadie's arms, drunk out of his mind, because his bedroom window was too brown to be white but not brown _enough_ , that was when he realised that his small crush on her had been short-lived, replaced by something more brotherly.

He knew Sadie would deny it to her grave, but the relationship they had was one of family.

Calix liked to "delude himself" - in Sadie's words - by claiming to be cool, calm and collected, but really, his lack of tact and impulse control landed him in fights left and right like they were a secondary job.

With the blessings of whichever god oversaw stupid stunts and the running of mouths, Calix usually managed to escape with a bloodied face and some broken bones, when he would've likely ended up hooked up to some life support if not for Sadie's innate ability to kick serious ass.

Sadie was, to Calix's dismay, terribly athletic, and she never passed up a moment to crush Calix's ego with those killer biceps of hers. When she wasn't serving as a bartender alongside Calix, she was either saving him from another one of his messes, hooking up, or working out.

Calix had been training too. His scrawny, prepubescent frame had slowly filled and levelled out, hints of taut muscle forming on his lean figure. He was average height for eighteen, hitting his 170cm goal, but Sadie, irritating as always, practically loomed over him. There wasn't a day without Sadie accentuating her mocking height of 180cm by using Calix's shoulders as an armrest, even though they both knew the height difference wasn't big enough to make that a comfortable position for her.

The things she did to spite him.

It was on one fine day that Calix landed himself in an argument with an already very, very pissed boy at the bar, when he realised that he was fucked without Sadie waiting on the sidelines and ready to jump in at any moment.

He may (or may not) have lit a flame by calling the asshole patron a, well, _asshole_ to his face, and then added fuel by mocking the man's stamina in bed, and then doused the entire fucking thing in gasoline when he suggested that said man try taking it up the ass for once.

And his premonition was confirmed when their 1am brawl started with the taste of alleyway gravel in his mouth. The boy was probably barely 160cm, but Calix realised with a jolt that he was far stronger than even Sadie, knocking him down with one solid punch alone. Calix's face kissed the ground before he could even think. There was no way that dude wasn't a ninja, and he'd probably be handing Calix's ass to him on a silver platter very soon.

He braced for another assault, but it never came.

"Get the fuck up," The man's voice was gruff, disinterested, and when Calix looked up at him, he looked bored, his withering glance directed at Calix like he was some miserable wad of gum stuck on the bottom of his shoe. The boy crossed his arms over his chest.

"I hate fighting people who suck," At this, Mad Bull Calix charged full force, only to be acquainted with the ground once again. The sting of blood in his mouth was bitter and metallic, and he sat up, spitting it out vehemently, before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, steely glare fixated on the goddamned man looming over him.

_How dare he._

"Who the fuck do you think you-"

"Shut up,"

And Calix did. The older boy tossed him a tissue from the inner pocket of his bomber jacket.

The fuck did he think he was, talking to Calix like that? He was the one who'd been in a sour mood at the bar, Calix hadn't started shit.

"That was pathetic. I expected a lot more from a brat with such vengeful language," He gave Calix a distasteful once-over, "but you've left me greatly dissatisfied,"

Calix just grunted in annoyance. This guy could go fuck himself.

"Levi?"

The older boy stiffened, turning around to face Sadie, who was standing there in shock, and then irritation, when she saw that her idiot roommate had gotten himself fucked over once again. 

Good goin', dude.

Squirming under her intense glower, an indignant Calix refused to meet her eyes, turning his glare instead to a particular red brick that had fallen from the wall. He hated moments like this. He didn't need saving (okay, he did, but he just wouldn't admit it).

The man's voice was considerably softer than Calix's, but his tone was strong, like he wielded authority.

"Sadie," He said it like a statement. He probably was happy, though his face showed no trace of emotion.

"What brings you here?"

Calix glared daggers into Sadie. Oh yeah, that's right, ignore the poor injured damsel in distress to have a little chitchat with the loser that beat him up.

Why did Sadie associate with this jackass? Calix had no idea. His expression was constantly disinterested and he acted as if he were better than everyone. If somewhere down the road his eyes got stuck in his head from how much he rolled them, Calix would pay for a photograph.

His entire demeanour pissed Calix the fuck off, even if he _did_ have reason to feel superior.

Calix's head snapped back up when he heard Sadie trash his reputation, apologising on her roomate's behalf and then having the audacity to justify hisimpulse as an "idiotic tendency". And he wanted to rip the boy's hair out when he heard the snort emerge from the back of his throat.

"Alright, fun catch up, would you like some tea and cookies now?" Motioning to his very bloody arm, and trying to convey his unyielding desire not to spend a single second longer in the boy's presence through some very exaggerated eyebrow movements.

He got a collective reply of "Shut up," as Sadie begrudgingly moved to crouch over him, eyeing his bruised face and burst lip. Calix looked up at the boy, and there was not a hint of remorse on the stupid boy's face. He wanted to slap that smug smirk right off him.

"Why - _jesus_ \- do you do this all the _goddamn_ _time_ ," She lifted his left arm, scrutinizing the small cuts he'd gotten from gravel, or the brick wall, he wasn't sure.

Calix muttered something about Levi having provoked him instead, but his protests fell on deaf ears when she prodded on a particular bruise near his bicep and he flinched hard.

"Weak," she declared, standing up and yanking an ego-stripped and foul-mouthed Calix to his feet.

"Come on Lee, let's get this wounded veteran home," She paused, beckoning to the boy, who followed them as well.

That was it. Calix hated Sadie, and he hated this boy even more.


	3. Chapter 3

"This fucker is a _what_ now?"

He looked from Sadie to the boy, Levi Santiago, Sadie had said, and then back to Sadie, who was staring at the boy next to her. Santiago just shrugged in response, bored, as he slouched against the headboard. Probably just to annoy Calix, Sadie chucked a rolled up shirt she'd picked up from her carpeted floor (her room was practically a war zone, not that Calix's was any better), and it smacked Calix straight in the jaw.

Ignoring the grunt Calix gave her, Sadie opened her mouth to speak, her eyes a little droopy.

"He's one of us," Sadie started, ignoring the blatant stink-eye Calix was shooting at the boy for no apparent reason. "Back when I was, uh," She gestured vaguely with her hands, "On the run... Levi whipped me into shape," Oh, this was new. Calix knew Sadie had been well-trained in combat, but by _this_ Santiago jackass? Hell no.

The boy was telepathic, Calix was convinced, because the corner of his mouth quirked up ever so slightly (Calix had recently come to terms with the fact that he had pretty above average sight, among other things).

After Sadie had discussed a bit about house protocol, Calix decided to leave, and head back to his room for some R&R while they did all the boring talking, since Santiago had come with some Society of A, whatever that was, to find Sadie, probably to discuss things about Peculiars,

He would give anything not to spend a single more moment with Mr Superior, he thought with a groan, collapsing onto his bed while he busied himself with a Rubik's cube which Sadie had chucked at him three months ago because it would serve as an 'intellectually stimulating' distraction.

He could only manage to solve one face of the cube, and he'd been going at it for about twenty minutes.

Calix contemplated peeling off the coloured stickers from the cube and re-sticking them on to make it look as if he'd completed the puzzle. And he was halfway through it when a voice interrupted him.

"That's now how you solve it, dumbass,"

Santiago, of all people, closed the door behind him.

Calix turned his withering glare to the lean boy, who simply stood there in his bar trousers and halfway unbuttoned shirt. Who had the nerve to waltz into his room like they owned the place, and _then_ mock his (questionable) actions?

"The fuck're you doing in my room?"

"Sadie says you've got the bigger room," He paused, eyes narrowing in distaste at the messy state Calix had kept it in.

Santiago pointed a scornful finger at the couch and the pile of laundry on it. "I'm sleeping here tonight, so get this shit off it," Calix contemplated telling the stupid mop of black hair that the couch was where he usually did the nasty (even though he'd cleaned it since), but since Santiago sucked absolute ass, he stuck his foot out from where he was on the bed and knocked the pile of clothes from the couch onto the floor at the boy's feet.

Calix gave him the most shit-eating grin he could muster, and the latter just rolled his eyes, flopping onto the couch with his arms folded under his neck, staring up at the glow-in-the-dark stars Calix had on his ceiling.

"You know there's a formula to it, right, Fox?" he said after a few seconds of comfortable silence.

"Huh?" Calix was kinda zoning out.

"The Rubik's cube, you idiot," Oh. Calix looked down at his hands, peeling off a blue sticker, which proved difficult for the fingernails that he'd bit down to nubbins.

"There's a whole algorithm," Santiago said, angling his head to meet Calix's gaze.

Calix just gave Levi a pointed, defiant, eyeroll, as he continued to replace the stickers (like an idiot). The boy took that as his opportunity to continue speaking.

"So, you and Sadie, huh?"

Calix stilled. He felt a blush creep across his cheeks. Fumbling with the blue sticker, he stuck it onto his palm absentmindedly.

"What the-"

"You're blushing,"

"Tch. I- uh, there was this one time," He paused, slightly embarrassed. "I liked her... but now she's like an older sister to me,"

"Yeah, must be tiring saving your ass all the time," Santiago, screw his damned reflexes, managed to catch the Rubik's cube before it hit his head.

"Why, do _you_ have a thing for her?" Calix stared at Santiago, hoping to see him get at least a little flustered, but the boy just blinked at him like he couldn't even fathom how Calix was the most ass-sucking idiot to exist.

"Are you an idiot? Sadie's my cousin, you asshat,"

Oh. _Oh_.

Calix had assumed they'd at least had something going on, what with the whole friends-since-young thing, but he hadn't realised it could very well just be a blood relation.

"Kinda makes sense now," Calix shrugged. "Why you both kick my ass so much,"

The boy laughed. A good, hearty one, and Calix found himself wanting to laugh as well. Santiago was a shitty person, and Calix hated his guts, but he wasn't too intolerable.

Calix? Being nice with his words? What could Calix say, he was just a forgiving person with a big heart.

Ha! Not quite.

"You know, I kinda hate you for it, Santiago,"

Santiago blinked.

"You were the one who shoved me first," The smug boy pointed out, matter-of-factly.

"You were being an asshole!"

Calix sighed, staring at Santiago, who'd shifted to lie on his side, facing Calix, before his face randomly scrunched up, and he shot up in his seat, lifting his pinky finger up and eyeing it wearily.

He gingerly lifted the finger to his nose and recoiled.

"You fucking brat, is this your fucking- _sex_ couch?" Santiago sputtered, pushing himself up and aggressively rubbing his violated finger against Calix's plaster wall.

Calix grimaced. He thought his cleaning had been immaculate.

Eh, the boy sucked, so Calix would say he deserved it.

Calix struggled and failed to hold in his laugh, and was met with a pillow to his head, and the mocking sound of Santiago's snort.

 _Motherfucker_.

He lunged at the dumb twat.


	4. Chapter 4

A little over five minutes later, the two found themselves in a muddled tangle of limbs splayed out on Calix's carpet, his bedsheets strewn all over the place and two dents in his wall, (courtesy of Calix's poor head, he was sure he'd have a bruise the following morning). He thrashed under Santiago, the stupid boy was heavy for his height, as his vision whitened out sporadically, wheezing under the weight of the boy's palm crushing his throat, his pain only heightened by the knee digging into his ribcage.

He hadn't realised how agile Santiago was.

Calix knew it was just banter, but as the first warning signal rang in his head, he felt that all too familiar shiver inch up his spine, and before he knew it, Santiago had been flipped over, and was clutching his cheek, an almost scandalised expression on his face.

Calix sprang off of the boy, dazed and confused, regarding the claws on his right hand with dread. Slowly, he reapproached the shocked boy, who'd pushed himself up against the wall.

Oh, shit.

Santiago brought his hand up to reveal streaks of blood, and a huge gash across his cheek.

Oh, shit.

His eyes were big. Too big, as he stared at Calix's face.

Oh, _shit_.

Calix tried to speak, apologise, but at the moment all that his mouth could choke out was a breathy hiss, and in a sudden pang of shock, realisation, a confused muddle of the two, he brought his left hand up, nearly recoiling at the plasticy material that had replaced his skin.

Holy _Fuck_.

In a frenzy, he scrambled to his bathroom, stumbling over stray objects and bumping into the foot of his bed in the process.

Fumbling to turn the light switch on, heart thrashing against his ribcage, Calix stared in horror at the face in the mirror. Halfway down the length of his face, his skin gradually morphed into iridescent, greenish-yellow scales, and his teeth- they looked like a row of tiny cactus thorns. But the worst of all, Calix had- _jesus christ_ \- piercing fangs, and a forked tongue.

Calix was a fucking snake.

_But with claws?_

He flexed his hand, inspecting his blood-tinted claws once more for good measure. Yup, definitely real claws.

He staggered back into his bedroom, and god only knew how priceless Sadie's face was when she saw Snake-Cat Calix.

" _Jesus_ ," She took in his face, slack-jawed. Calix almost wanted to laugh at the way her eyebrows were drawn up.

"I came because I heard a thud - where the hell's-" She stopped when her gaze landed on Santiago, dabbing at the deep gash with one of Calix's shirts. " _Fuck_ \- Fox, you dumb motherfucker, how did you-"

"I don't think the idiot can talk right now," The boy muttered. Calix stared as small balls of light danced on Santiago's fingertips. Not even wincing once, the damned bastard slowly fused the flesh around the wound with the heat and light radiating off his fingers, and soon the skin was as good as new.

This was where it became unfair. Peculiars out here had fucking healing powers, and what could Calix do? It was a fun new surprise every _goddamn_ time!

Sadie, being the cool, calm, collected mom-friend, sat all three of them down on Calix's bed, checking on Santiago, and staring at Calix like he grew a second head. Well, he kind of had, technically.

Calix also had a good mind to kick Santiago off from where slouching against his bed's headboard, before Sadie suddenly burst out laughing in the middle of thought, and they turned to look at her quizzically.

"When I heard thumping... for a hot minute, I thought..." She snorted.

"Nevermind."

Calix hadn't understood anything, but Santiago, on the other hand, looked just about ready to castrate Sadie, even though he said nothing in reply.

In the minutes following, Calix didn't pay them much attention, he was far too anxious after the whole ordeal. He just alternated between glancing down at his claws, and crossing his eyes downwards to stare at his still very much snake-like tongue every five seconds.

Why hadn't he started de-transitioning yet? He hated his stupid snake mouth.

Was it some fucked-up punishment for never shutting up?

Sad to say, Sadie would probably have welcomed the idea of having a mute Calix; she wouldn't have to put up with his incessant blabbering any longer.

And as if on cue, Santiago, that _prick_ , murmured, "It's so refreshing to have this idiot shutting the hell up for once,"

Under different circumstances would Calix have resorted to physical abuse as an expression of his distaste, but as the boy smirked devilishly at him, Calix, too tired for anything more, clicked his tongue in a disapproving _tsk_. Or at least attempted to. His tongue was thin, flimsy, and coated with a layer of snake saliva.

He mostly wanted the duo to leave so he could sleep.

Sighing, Calix turned to lie on his side, fiddling with his fingers and picking at the claws on his right hand. He didn't think he'd ever get used to or learn how to control the damn power he had.

"He's only done it four times before this, but mostly just claws and leaping," Sadie said after a few seconds, to no one in particular.

"We assumed it was a powerful activator type..." Sadie trailed off, meeting his eyes. "Like some dumb cat-power," She let out a humourless laugh that Calix silently echoed.

She recounted the first time she'd ever witnessed his power, how it had occurred in less than a split second, and how it had taken five minutes for his claws to shrink back.

Calix couldn't help but notice that Santiago was weirdly silent, when he would have usually opened his dumb-as-shit mouth by then.

Calix waited for Santiago to say something, turning back to his other side to face him, but the boy just sat there, mouth in a grim line, brows drawn in calculation.

The few seconds that passed seemed as if they had stretched on for aeons, until Santiago finally spoke.

"There are _three_ Peculiar classes,"

Calix's head snapped up, and he propped himself up on his elbows.

_What in the holy mother of hell...?_

"Transformer types," He enunciated each syllable carefully and precisely, "are the rarest,"

Calix was silent for a split second, unsure of what to make of the new information. Was it even true?

"How would _you_ know?" Calix hadn't meant his tone to sound passive-aggressive, but Levi picked up on his tone and shot him a bored, Shut Up You Inept Loser look.

"I've trained with Peculiars. So has she," He gave a small nod in Sadie's direction. "We've never had a transformer. But, well, my teacher, he knew a girl..."


End file.
